Believe Different, Live Different

Easy-Button Jesus

I have been marinating for quite some time on the truth about God’s will. We all seem to ask life questions that revolve around God’s will. I have said a number of times that “I want to be in God’s will.”

I have been working on shifting my perspective from a “do-mentality” to a “who-mentality.”

Jesus was constantly redefining this mentality in the people around him. Jesus repeatedly talked about the father’s will being belief in him. We are in God’s will when we believe in his truth and follow after him.

For me, there is also a second chapter that goes with this mentality shift.

I feel like there are times in my life when I treat God like the easy-button from the Staples commercial. One press of the button and I should have what I need.

I will admit that there are times where I feel like because I am a Christian, nothing bad should happen. It’s like all of a sudden because I accepted Christ, I should be filled only with an abundance of success, stress-less life, no heartache, no pain, no sorrow, no hardship, and even no trials. Let’s just be honest… that’s called entitlement.

What does the easy-button Jesus have to do with life and believing?

As I have been reading in John this time around, it has been in my face how much Jesus had no easy-button life. Jesus was hated by many, ridiculed by his own family, challenged constantly, dismissed every other second, laughed at, scorned, beaten, and killed for being IN the father’s will.

21 Responses

learned this lesson the hard way. there was a season where i thought God would make it easy for me. as long as i believe and i pray and i say the proper things like bippity boppity boo…. i thought that God would answer my prayers right away.

God, in His sovereign way, made me go through the fire and crucible and trials for years. it seemed like every prayer i prayed…i got the opposite of what i prayed for… and it hurt so bad. but im glad that happened… for me to realize that His will isn’t for me to get my prayers answered or get my dreams to come true (as much as He’d love to do that)…but instead His will for me is to become more and more like His Son.

“but im glad that happened… for me to realize that His will isn’t for me to get my prayers answered or get my dreams to come true (as much as He’d love to do that)…but instead His will for me is to become more and more like His Son.”

love this statement out of you! I love that his dream for my life is to look like his son. That is his dream. I want that to be my dream!

“That is the point. When we believe, it doesn’t change the world and it’s troubles, but it changes who we are in those same troubles.”

Dannnngggg girl… you got some rockin posts going on this week :) So, I see your repetoire of talks expanding – both yesterday’s post and today’s post could be easily translated into the spoken word too…

Love what God is doing in your heart and life friend. You make such a beautiful difference in the lives of people around you.

I so easily get into the easy-button reality of okay I prayed and I did this so then of course it will work out or this is what God is calling me to so it will look like how I want it to…definitely have made God into that genie mentality before….but then God throws around verses like this that just smack me out of the water and remind me that He’s a whole lot bigger:

“But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” -Acts 9:15-16

And I agree, for me, it’s changing my attitude, my thoughts, my words, and my actions when those troubles do come (which He said they would!) toward Him and despite the circumstances around me, I’m going to focus on God because it’s all about Him. Which is hard!!

It’s so hard. I’m learning that I am more aware of the hard because I have other options in the hard. Without God, hard is just defeatingly hard. With him, hard is hard with hope, a counselor, one who provides truth and comfort. That kinda hard seems okay to me.

this speaks into the same challenge my heart always hears: seek God’s heart, not His hand.

i can easily get wrapped up in what i can get out of Him or from my relationship with Him… and you’re right. that’s just plain, ol’, nauseating entitlement. ugh.

psalm 103 reminds me that He does “come with benefits”, although they’re not of the easy-button variety. they’re forgiveness, healing, redemption, compassion, love, strength, grace… i need those more than i need the quick fixes and less worries. again, His emphasis is on my heart rather than on anything external.

yes, God wants to bless me. yes, God takes care of my needs. yes, God cares about the things i care about. but ultimately He is more concerned about my holiness than my happiness.

i need to realign my heart so my faith rests in who He is rather than what He does.

I love how you always say focus on his heart not his hands. That is friendship. I know i love your heart. I focus on your heart, not what you do. I see your heart in what you do. Wonder why i see what God does first and not his heart? The easy answer is to spend more time in his heart. I’mma pray for that perspective to shift in me too. just talking out loud.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot. My jaw has been a pain and I’ve been thinking about how it could effect my ability to serve in nica next week. i don’t want to be in pain. but whether it’s a good thing or not, i haven’t been praying for healing. obviously i dont want to be in excruciating pain like i am now…and not have access to good ice/cold things. but God knows that. and I want to give Him the power (that He already possesses…so i guess it’s not me giving it to Him) to heal or hurt or whatever my jaw. i don’t actually think my jaw issue is a jaw issue. it’s a heart issue. it’s a “do i really trust Him” issue. i want to start breaking my habits of choosing the easy road. i want to realize and trust and believe that it’s all about Him.

sorry that your jaw still bugs you. You definitely take out your tension there. I’mma pray you see him in new trusting ways in NICA. I can already see some great things God is gonna do in and through you with that trip. Can’t wait to hear!

I so wish satisfaction was cookable in the microwave! Four years! that is a long time, and definitely constitutes being called a journey! I agree with you that i am glad that there is no easy button with him. In essence he is the “easy-button” for our lives. Can you imagine going through the last four years without him!?

Ah, the Holy Easy Button. I remember being sold that bill of goods during my teen and college years when I wasn’t a Christian and dismissing it because I knew it didn’t line up with the Scriptures. I couldn’t understand why these folks would think I’d want to be just like them when they didn’t even know the own words from their Holy Book.

I found God in pain (death of my grandfather) and since I’ve come to Christ I’ve some joys but also lost jobs, a home and 95% of my possessions in a fire, divorce, separation from my children, multiple miscarriages (7 so far) with my new wife, financial stress, betrayal of close friends, dream after dream that has died…following God’s been no package of TastyKakes.

However, I know that if it wasn’t for all of those things I wouldn’t be nearly as compassionate, as caring and as trusting in God as I would have been should like been easy.

Don’t get me wrong. I could use a year or two of a Blessings Fiesta. ;)

You sure do know some hardship in your life. I am sorry for the all the hard. I am so glad that through all those things you have known God to make all these things new. God seems to have filled in all the gaps of loss for you with himself. that is amazing. So glad you know him the way you do.

Oh my word. I just happened to have a minute and so I stopped by your blog today and this was just what I needed to hear. My trip “home” has been hard and messy and just plain ugly at times – and not even for all the reasons I would have thought. And in an effort to shield my sweet Ma from the behind the scenes, I’m about to implode because I’ve forgotten to hand it over to Him. Right in the middle of me pitching a fit in my mind about it all, I came upon your easy Jesus button post. Thanks, it stings but sometimes, I need to be reeled in and reminded that there are some fights I don’t have to engage in, He’s got it. A bit of a rabbit trail off your post but I’m so thankful for it and you!!

Dang! suck on the hard times at home. I hate that. Sorry for the messiness. The hardest part is probably the not expected things, dangit! Love that He has poked you to hand it over. I am so glad you stopped by today!

[…] to do. Nothing about the road that got him to his dream was easy. Joseph never treated God like an easy-button God either. He never asked for an easier situation of circumstance. I am sure he might’ve had […]